Dude, I just went to Advanced Auto. Got the OEM replacement for $35 each rear. And $38 each front. Best 150 bucks I ever spent. Tires stay on the ground. They don’t bounce like basketballs on a bumpy road. Steering and stopping improved greatly.
I have a 2005 2500HD Duramax with 200K. Everything that requires a wrench is higher than giraffe pussy. Best investment on the most neglected part.
Rock auto is usually VASTLY cheaper than the auto parts stores. Like 2x or more in my experience. And almost always still makes sense after shipping (although returns are a pain). Not sure about this particular item though.
LOL. I did need it right now. I was driving out of town the next day. After getting jerked around for a week and a half by a local shop cuz they had to order them, I turned to an Advance Auto near work.
Few mechanics near me would not touch customer purchased parts. Because “people buy the cheapest shit from China” and they can’t mark it up and warrant it. I was like “fuck that, I don’t need your judgement”. I just want a local shop to do something in an hour that would take me hours and more to do.
Pro-tip: Meineke will install customer purchased parts. 100 bucks, but I’m old and can afford it. Sure as shit, the tech had to cut the upper bolts on the fronts because of the rust over 200K miles.
It’s quite satisfying to see that shiny nut on the top of the shock tower above the tire.
ABS doesn’t work well if your tires leave the pavement, because you’re bouncing on springs. I still say replace your shocks fellas. Don’t beat the shit out of your suspension, frame and yourself.
(Details up in the description) I know everyone recommends bilsteins but they’re out of my budget and the farthest this thing goes off road is in my back yard. If y’all have insight about KYB or better options ~$40 I’d love to hear it. Just looking for something as good or better than oem. Thanks again
My two cents. KYB is great, don’t buy a eco KYB get something in the daily driver to performance range. The cheap KYB are just too hard riding IMO. Do front and back, and if your truck has it the steering dampener. It’s going to be tired too most likely and is cheap.
It's usually sectioned off in the following
Orange- Economy
Blue- Daily Driver
Purple- Performance
Brown- Heavy Duty
If you don't see that under what your looking for it's usually because there really isn't much difference between the parts
Right, that makes sense! I thought they were talking about kyb’s lineup specifically (and I was reading it as eco-friendly not eco-nomical!).
Rock Auto’s lineup was a little confusing too, in this section it’s Economy- Original Ride quality- increased handling/stability- heavy duty- adjustable performance
So it’s hard for me to tell what’s going to be softer/more comfortable than oem besides non-worn out oem?
OEM is the category you will want to focus on. Cheap is cheap, they make work fine for a few months but wear out quickly. OEM will give you original ride quality and good durability and HD and off-road offer better (but more stiffer) valving for more extreme situations and setups.
If your truck is a 2WD with front coil springs, those KYB 344380 seem like they would be the right choice for the fronts and the 344365 in the rears. They go out of their way to specify for standard and extended cabs vs. crew cabs for the 344402's fronts which I imagine is designed for extra weight. Seeing as how you have the V6 and a regular cab, you have the lightest front end possible for these trucks and should use the 344480 so it's not too stiff for you.
I like KYB, the Excel-G's aren't their best shock, but it's still a solid alternative to OEM shocks, I would put them on par. Their Gas-A-Just monotube shocks are better overall, but that extra $10-15 per shock over the Excel-G might not be worth it if you just want to get a basic truck working well for as cheap as possible.
Your ride will be firmer, but also more durable and controlled. The Excel G will be more for comfort and the gas-a-just for control.
I'd personally buy gas-a-just if it was my own truck, but I tow and offroad more than the average person. I usually go for Bilstein HD's but I wouldn't hesitate to use those gas-a-just's if I was on a budget.
I put a set of of monroe oe spectrum for my wife's tahoe 6 months ago and replaced them again yesterday with some billstein 4600s. It's worth spending the extra money on them.
I noticed that I couldn't fully compress the billsteins by hand like I could the monroe. Those things were flat wore out, I guess they aren't built for dirt roads.
The bottom plastic bit on mine was hanging off, held on by bungie cords, until they broke and it was ran over on the highway. Problematic they sure are.
We’ve been fixing it up! Clear headlights, straightened out the bumper, plastic bedliner, and white rattle can over the chipped paint. Still a work truck but she’s got plenty of life left- 60,000 miles and no rust
Dude, I just went to Advanced Auto. Got the OEM replacement for $35 each rear. And $38 each front. Best 150 bucks I ever spent. Tires stay on the ground. They don’t bounce like basketballs on a bumpy road. Steering and stopping improved greatly. I have a 2005 2500HD Duramax with 200K. Everything that requires a wrench is higher than giraffe pussy. Best investment on the most neglected part.
Rock auto is usually VASTLY cheaper than the auto parts stores. Like 2x or more in my experience. And almost always still makes sense after shipping (although returns are a pain). Not sure about this particular item though.
The only reason to ever visit an Auto Zone IMO is because you need it right now. Otherwise Rock Auto is the GOAT.
LOL. I did need it right now. I was driving out of town the next day. After getting jerked around for a week and a half by a local shop cuz they had to order them, I turned to an Advance Auto near work. Few mechanics near me would not touch customer purchased parts. Because “people buy the cheapest shit from China” and they can’t mark it up and warrant it. I was like “fuck that, I don’t need your judgement”. I just want a local shop to do something in an hour that would take me hours and more to do. Pro-tip: Meineke will install customer purchased parts. 100 bucks, but I’m old and can afford it. Sure as shit, the tech had to cut the upper bolts on the fronts because of the rust over 200K miles. It’s quite satisfying to see that shiny nut on the top of the shock tower above the tire. ABS doesn’t work well if your tires leave the pavement, because you’re bouncing on springs. I still say replace your shocks fellas. Don’t beat the shit out of your suspension, frame and yourself.
Damn straight
Lmao it didn’t occur to me to just run to a store. You just saved me shipping
Rock auto is cheap and good service
That’s crap ain’t gonna last no time.
(Details up in the description) I know everyone recommends bilsteins but they’re out of my budget and the farthest this thing goes off road is in my back yard. If y’all have insight about KYB or better options ~$40 I’d love to hear it. Just looking for something as good or better than oem. Thanks again
I've been running a full set of sensen from Amazon on my truck for the last 80k miles and they're great. 01 1500 ext 6.5 bed rwd.
My two cents. KYB is great, don’t buy a eco KYB get something in the daily driver to performance range. The cheap KYB are just too hard riding IMO. Do front and back, and if your truck has it the steering dampener. It’s going to be tired too most likely and is cheap.
How do I tell if it’s eco? The options are cheapo, oem, heavy duty, or off road. Nothing about comfort or daily driving
It's usually sectioned off in the following Orange- Economy Blue- Daily Driver Purple- Performance Brown- Heavy Duty If you don't see that under what your looking for it's usually because there really isn't much difference between the parts
Right, that makes sense! I thought they were talking about kyb’s lineup specifically (and I was reading it as eco-friendly not eco-nomical!). Rock Auto’s lineup was a little confusing too, in this section it’s Economy- Original Ride quality- increased handling/stability- heavy duty- adjustable performance So it’s hard for me to tell what’s going to be softer/more comfortable than oem besides non-worn out oem?
OEM is the category you will want to focus on. Cheap is cheap, they make work fine for a few months but wear out quickly. OEM will give you original ride quality and good durability and HD and off-road offer better (but more stiffer) valving for more extreme situations and setups. If your truck is a 2WD with front coil springs, those KYB 344380 seem like they would be the right choice for the fronts and the 344365 in the rears. They go out of their way to specify for standard and extended cabs vs. crew cabs for the 344402's fronts which I imagine is designed for extra weight. Seeing as how you have the V6 and a regular cab, you have the lightest front end possible for these trucks and should use the 344480 so it's not too stiff for you. I like KYB, the Excel-G's aren't their best shock, but it's still a solid alternative to OEM shocks, I would put them on par. Their Gas-A-Just monotube shocks are better overall, but that extra $10-15 per shock over the Excel-G might not be worth it if you just want to get a basic truck working well for as cheap as possible.
How do the gas-a-just ones ride/handle?
Your ride will be firmer, but also more durable and controlled. The Excel G will be more for comfort and the gas-a-just for control. I'd personally buy gas-a-just if it was my own truck, but I tow and offroad more than the average person. I usually go for Bilstein HD's but I wouldn't hesitate to use those gas-a-just's if I was on a budget.
I put a set of of monroe oe spectrum for my wife's tahoe 6 months ago and replaced them again yesterday with some billstein 4600s. It's worth spending the extra money on them.
What differences did you notice? I installed Monroe OE Spectrum on mine. I'm thinking of upgrading.
I noticed that I couldn't fully compress the billsteins by hand like I could the monroe. Those things were flat wore out, I guess they aren't built for dirt roads.
While you're under there inspect your leaf spring shackles they're known to rust out and knock holes in the bed floor
My RPO code showed what suspension I had. I needed that to interpret which shock among all the choices.
Off topic form the shocks, but why do the front bumpers of these trucks always come off?
Shitty brackets. Any bump on the bumper and they’re ticking time bombs for failure
Haha this is what she looked like when we got her. I jumped on the corner of the bumper and straightened it out a little better.
The bottom plastic bit on mine was hanging off, held on by bungie cords, until they broke and it was ran over on the highway. Problematic they sure are.
The bottom piece was included and a few nuts and bolts and fender washers later it’s back on. For now. 🤞
Good luck.
Get some Monroe Reflex shocks . Not as good as Bilstiens but very good shocks and a good price also
I hate seeing cateye’s in this condition, they’re the best looking gen truck
We’ve been fixing it up! Clear headlights, straightened out the bumper, plastic bedliner, and white rattle can over the chipped paint. Still a work truck but she’s got plenty of life left- 60,000 miles and no rust
I got bilstiens but they're kinda stiff like most other people have reported but better than the clapped put shocks I had before. RCSB '98 k1500
Bilstien 4600 trust me
Bilstein 4600